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Yeah, I'm there with you. I could possibly see this happening for the mouse-gun calibers that would probably be carried by these punks: .22, .25, .32, or .380 could possibly ricochet off the skull and find soft tissue close by.

A prize fighters bones of the face are hardened due to repeated minute fractures that later knit together and form a more solid surface. There are also some disorders that can cause bone to be nearly as dense and hard as steel. This coupled with angle and placement could have cause a ricochet of a small caliber round. If that round were to strike soft tissue it could cause death, the eye or neck would be two very vulnerable area's but neither would likely cause instant death and the chances of this happening is extremely remote.

"The incident happened Dec. 14 near the Alemany public housing complex in Bernal Heights. Police said a group of suspects accosted a man at about 11 p.m., and that as they dug through the victim's possessions and took his phone, one of them pulled out a handgun.

The victim did not resist and complied with all demands, police said, but the gunman still opened fire. The bullet, though, glanced off the victim's face and struck Chatman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said."

I'm with KCSteve here: I'm thinking that the person who fired was roughly in a line with the victim and Chatman, as criminals really aren't well known for their fire discipline. Perhaps it was a glancing blow to the victims face, and Chatman happened to be in the line of fire.

I had an uncle with acromegaly, his head and hands were affected and the bones in his skull had thickened. I suppose something like that could deflect a larger bullet, but like others have said, normally it would have to be something small, like a .22.

Do not assume the word "bounced" or "glanced" means anything, reporters fill in details all the time, with inaccurate language.

Bullet could have passed through the flesh of the victim's cheek before hitting the other criminal, etc. The bullet might never have touched bone. Or it might have gone straight throught the victim's mouth or nose side-to side, without changing path.

Probably if you read 10 news reports about this, they would each be different, and all would have no resemblance to the medical report.